Good advice, Agnese. I keep about 25-35% of my wine at home, mostly in a chiller cabinet that is supposed to hold 292 bottles but in reality nearer 250. These are ready now but with the capacity to develop. I also have a couple of wine racks in the garage which contain bottles for immediate consumption. The rest of my collection is kept in the merchant's cellars, where they can mature in perfect temperature-controlled conditions. I usually liberate 2/3 cases each year as space becomes available in the chiller. As for Champagne and other sparkling, vintage is in the chiller but the NV is either upright in boxes or in the garage rack - they do not usually hang around for very long. I agree about light strike. All my white Rioja, for example, in clear bottles, is kept in the chiller. I rarely drink Rosé and never buy it these days, so that is not a problem. If I were younger and still buying wine en primeur I would probably invest in another chiller cabinet to save on annual storage costs.
Hi Agnese, my 'cellar' is an old outside privvy (toilet). My house was built in the 1750's and the out-house is stone built with 600mm thick solid walls in the shade of old, large apple trees (never gets any direct sunlight).There are no windows and I have re-lined and added insulation to the walls and ceiling, put in a (tiled) concrete floor, have fitted an insulated door and installed lighting (for access only). It maintains a constant temperature and humidity and is racked out for around 1500 bottles (of varying size) although my Champagne has to be stored horizontally. It's a bit small but it keeps my wine in perfect condition..
Great video, thanks! I am not disputing the effects of light on rosé, but the pretty factor matters for a good pink wine, and you can kind of enjoy that while still in bottle.
I heard "mathematical progression" as a spiritual call! I wonder if quantitative studies and math models have been made properly about these storage / micro-oxygenation ideas. I think I might still use my studies in something wine related!
did you personally invest in venesia aswell ? personally I think it is best to invest in the real thing: buy the bottles ! looka like a strange thing to invest into a 'fund' we dont really know about opposed to the real thing: wine itself..
My kitchen wine rack can get as warm as 25C. Anything I buy with the intent of aging more than a year is in the cellar, but it isn't unusual for a bottle to stay unopened a year on the rack. Is this temperature hurting my wine? How long can wine stay this warm with no bad effect?
It is difficult to say without knowing the other factors - the light, or temperature fluctuations as well. It will certainly speed up the maturation, and sometimes it can cause leakage, shortening the time significantly. It would also depend on wine, I guess, some can be stored that way for a year, and for others 1/2 will be enough to loose freshness. 😅
I saw a restaurant with a sparkling wine fridge and the sparkling wines where stored upright. I thought that Champagne houses store their wines slightly angled.
I think it’s important to distinguish what type is harmful and what isn’t. Mild led lighting in a wine cellar is going to cause very little damage unless the light is on 24/7 but I can’t think of anyone who is doing that. Yes fluorescent lights on all day long are harmful or natural light
As I said in the video, I think we usually diminish the lights damage (it is much bigger) and do not talk enough about it. I have had too many “wines gone wrong” due to light damage. 😓
We store still wine with cork closures on its side to keep the wine in contact with the cork -- the resulting moisture ensures the cork doesn't shrink over time and let in oxygen, thereby damaging the wine. However -- and I could be totally wrong but what I got from Agnese is -- with sparkling wines, the cork stays moist simply because of the presence of the carbon dioxide in sparklers. So there's no need to store champagne, for example, on its side. Cork and liquid don't need to be in contact to keep the cork from drying out. The CO2 does that. Bonus then, by storing it vertically the wine doesn't contact the cork, so if there is TCA in the cork it may not transfer to the sparkling wine as readily. I think. ;-)
And also store screw cap bottles vertically? Vertical storage demands just keep increasing, but almost all wine fridges I've looked at ignore this demand completely. In fact, I'm super disappointed with that market in general, especially if you're looking for something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Most of them are cheap constructions, but for some "mysterious" reason they cost 5-6+ times that of a regular fridge. I could buy 3-4 large fridge/freezer combi cabinets from a reputable brand for the price of one mediocre, medium sized wine fridge with a terrible energy efficiency engine and poorer warranty. It annoys me to no end. If this market had been more palatable, I would have bought a wine fridge a long time ago.
I remember buying 2000 vinatge and out of the 30 bottles around 10 were in perfect condition , 15 okish and 5 vinegar. The seller kept them since he bought them in his cellar but at different positions. Thats why the good stuff needs a climate fridge for long term hodling😂
Hello Agnese my DRC Monopole and my first growth Bordeauxs, are aging well in my off site cellar here in NYC! They keep my wines at a proper temperature. They deliver them whenever I want to my upper east side apartment.
Jeroboam (=Double Magnum) do also their second fermentation in the bottle, they are perfect; everything bigger and the 0.2 l bottles as well are only refills - avoid them, the difference is huge!
Hello Agnese; most people have no idea how important wine storage is to the life of wine. I see too many people store their wine in their kitchen near the oven......or on a shelf, near a window with sunlight.....Temperature & light will kill a wine...Thank you for your insight about wine. More please...
Screwcaps especially the newer versions have it all over cork.
Interesting point about lower temperatures affecting cork elasticity.
👍👍
Love screw caps, no worries about cork taint
Great to hear that screw cup doesn’t have the bad reputation. 🙌
Good advice, Agnese. I keep about 25-35% of my wine at home, mostly in a chiller cabinet that is supposed to hold 292 bottles but in reality nearer 250. These are ready now but with the capacity to develop. I also have a couple of wine racks in the garage which contain bottles for immediate consumption. The rest of my collection is kept in the merchant's cellars, where they can mature in perfect temperature-controlled conditions. I usually liberate 2/3 cases each year as space becomes available in the chiller.
As for Champagne and other sparkling, vintage is in the chiller but the NV is either upright in boxes or in the garage rack - they do not usually hang around for very long.
I agree about light strike. All my white Rioja, for example, in clear bottles, is kept in the chiller. I rarely drink Rosé and never buy it these days, so that is not a problem.
If I were younger and still buying wine en primeur I would probably invest in another chiller cabinet to save on annual storage costs.
she is the hottest 🙂
Love your advice on storing Champaign. Some cases ship horizontal. ( Clicquot). While others vertically. ( Piper-Heidsieck ).😊
Hi Agnese, my 'cellar' is an old outside privvy (toilet). My house was built in the 1750's and the out-house is stone built with 600mm thick solid walls in the shade of old, large apple trees (never gets any direct sunlight).There are no windows and I have re-lined and added insulation to the walls and ceiling, put in a (tiled) concrete floor, have fitted an insulated door and installed lighting (for access only). It maintains a constant temperature and humidity and is racked out for around 1500 bottles (of varying size) although my Champagne has to be stored horizontally. It's a bit small but it keeps my wine in perfect condition..
Sounds like You have invested a lot of work in Your cellar, impressive. 🙏🏻 Cheers to a perfectly stored wines! 🥂🍾
Great video, thanks!
I am not disputing the effects of light on rosé, but the pretty factor matters for a good pink wine, and you can kind of enjoy that while still in bottle.
I heard "mathematical progression" as a spiritual call! I wonder if quantitative studies and math models have been made properly about these storage / micro-oxygenation ideas. I think I might still use my studies in something wine related!
That is a very nice thing to do, I think. 🥂
Nice video
Hope you will unscrew a bottle of Hill of Grace in your video soon😊😊😊😊😊
Let’s hope! 🤞
did you personally invest in venesia aswell ? personally I think it is best to invest in the real thing: buy the bottles ! looka like a strange thing to invest into a 'fund' we dont really know about opposed to the real thing: wine itself..
No, I have not invested in Vinesia, but You do buy bottles, so You invest in bottles. 🍷
My kitchen wine rack can get as warm as 25C. Anything I buy with the intent of aging more than a year is in the cellar, but it isn't unusual for a bottle to stay unopened a year on the rack. Is this temperature hurting my wine? How long can wine stay this warm with no bad effect?
It is difficult to say without knowing the other factors - the light, or temperature fluctuations as well. It will certainly speed up the maturation, and sometimes it can cause leakage, shortening the time significantly. It would also depend on wine, I guess, some can be stored that way for a year, and for others 1/2 will be enough to loose freshness. 😅
I saw a restaurant with a sparkling wine fridge and the sparkling wines where stored upright. I thought that Champagne houses store their wines slightly angled.
Maybe, I only seen horizontally stored bottles, it takes less space. 🙏🏻🥂
I think it’s important to distinguish what type is harmful and what isn’t. Mild led lighting in a wine cellar is going to cause very little damage unless the light is on 24/7 but I can’t think of anyone who is doing that. Yes fluorescent lights on all day long are harmful or natural light
As I said in the video, I think we usually diminish the lights damage (it is much bigger) and do not talk enough about it. I have had too many “wines gone wrong” due to light damage. 😓
I would imagine it is strongly related to the frequency of the light rather then just intensity.
Cork taint can effect still wines as well. Why store champagne differently? Or are you saying I should age expensive still wines vertically too?
I think newer research suggests that still wines don't need to be stored horizontally either. It's just another traditional wine myth.
We store still wine with cork closures on its side to keep the wine in contact with the cork -- the resulting moisture ensures the cork doesn't shrink over time and let in oxygen, thereby damaging the wine. However -- and I could be totally wrong but what I got from Agnese is -- with sparkling wines, the cork stays moist simply because of the presence of the carbon dioxide in sparklers. So there's no need to store champagne, for example, on its side. Cork and liquid don't need to be in contact to keep the cork from drying out. The CO2 does that. Bonus then, by storing it vertically the wine doesn't contact the cork, so if there is TCA in the cork it may not transfer to the sparkling wine as readily. I think. ;-)
It is because Champagnes are sparkling wines have CO2 that keeps the cork moist. Still wines don’t
Exactly what You said, thank You for clearing that out. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
And also store screw cap bottles vertically?
Vertical storage demands just keep increasing, but almost all wine fridges I've looked at ignore this demand completely. In fact, I'm super disappointed with that market in general, especially if you're looking for something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Most of them are cheap constructions, but for some "mysterious" reason they cost 5-6+ times that of a regular fridge. I could buy 3-4 large fridge/freezer combi cabinets from a reputable brand for the price of one mediocre, medium sized wine fridge with a terrible energy efficiency engine and poorer warranty. It annoys me to no end. If this market had been more palatable, I would have bought a wine fridge a long time ago.
Thank you. Great information. Cheers.
Thank You! 🙏🏻
Best Wine 🍷 Storage Video Ever! Agnese you're the sweetest 💗 and most precious Sommelier in the Whole Wide World! Oh yes you are! 🎉🎉 🇨🇦 🇨🇦
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.. always so helpful.. thanks
Thank You. 🙏🏻
I remember buying 2000 vinatge and out of the 30 bottles around 10 were in perfect condition , 15 okish and 5 vinegar.
The seller kept them since he bought them in his cellar but at different positions.
Thats why the good stuff needs a climate fridge for long term hodling😂
Hello Agnese my DRC Monopole and my first growth Bordeauxs, are aging well in my off site cellar here in NYC! They keep my wines at a proper temperature. They deliver them whenever I want to my upper east side apartment.
That sounds like an epic cellar (wines You have) and it seems You have figured it all out! 🙏🏻🍷 Cheers to that! ✨
Jeroboam (=Double Magnum) do also their second fermentation in the bottle, they are perfect; everything bigger and the 0.2 l bottles as well are only refills - avoid them, the difference is huge!
At that point, I think it depends on producer, as law doesn’t require it. But I will check it.
Hello Agnese; most people have no idea how important wine storage is to the life of wine. I see too many people store their wine in their kitchen near the oven......or on a shelf, near a window with sunlight.....Temperature & light will kill a wine...Thank you for your insight about wine. More please...
That is true, I see wine professionals, who work with wine daily store some of their most precious wines in the kitchen and under bright light. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻